RE: Mulching the New Herb Garden and Looking Around - June 1, 2019 @goldenoakfarm
Apparently I'm not the only one who's limited by physical conditions. It frustrates me big time that I can only do half' or even only a quarter of the work that needs to be done in a day ☹
But you read my mind. This afternoon' when I was fighting with the straw I'm using to mulch this year' I made a mental note to start asking around about what others were using to mulch.
Looking at the pics' I assume you're using hay?
These last couple of years, I've been using hemp fiber. It is so easy to apply, but after a while it becomes such a compact and hard layer I'm not even sure that rain gets through.
So this year, I thought I'd save some money and use straw. But straw is impossible to work with. I did the best I could, but because it doesn't bend, it's not easy to cover everything but the small plants. I already know it was a bad idea, so now I'm trying to find the best alternative to use next year.
Doesn't hay have a lot of seeds in it?
I never use straw as I find it dangerous, hard to work with, and it doesn't do the job well. It's dangerous because when it gets wet, it is VERY slippery.
I have used hay exclusively since 1992. Put down correctly and with timely renewal, there is very little problem with weeds. But if you don't get it down in time, watch out! Here's my post about using hay mulch:
https://steemit.com/gardening/@goldenoakfarm/about-using-hay-for-mulch
Last year was a bad hay year here and there was little mulch to be found. So I didn't mulch in the fall. I now have a big source of organic mulch hay and have a mess to clean up before I can mulch. That's why the New Herb is taking so long to do.
Once I finish it, I get to start in the Big veg garden which is even worse. This was mid May...
Thanks a ton. Very useful post about mulching with hay. Tomorrow, I'm going to get myself some. I'm so frustrated by the straw. I work in raised beds and containers. It's really hard to fit it in properly, and the blades of grass are just growing through it.
But it's not really the weeds I have problem with. I mainly want to limit the times I need to water the plants. And I've already noticed, straw isn't doing the trick.
I should actually train the plants to go without water for a longer period of time. But it's like 40°Celsius in the greenhouse, and since nothing is planted directly in the ground they have no access to groundwater...
If you stress plants by withholding water, their production and health declines. They must have water to take up nutrients from the soil...
Just make sure you put it down thick enough. Most people do not, and that's where the trouble starts.
I know people who 'train' their plants so in the end they only need to be watered like 3 times a month. I spoil my plants too much when it comes to watering them 😂
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